President Trump on Thursday moved to dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith’s DC case, citing ‘presidential immunity.’
Last month Trump was hit with 4 counts in Jack Smith’s January 6 case up in DC: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Jack Smith is also using the DC case to gag Trump.
The special counsel’s prosecutors accused Trump of attempting to “prejudice the jury pool through disparaging and inflammatory attacks on the citizens of this District, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses.”
Trump’s lawyers blasted the Biden Regime and accused Jack Smith of “breaking 234 years of precedent” for charging a former president.
“Breaking 234 years of precedent, the incumbent administration has charged President Trump for acts that lie not just within the ‘outer perimeter,’ but at the heart of his official responsibilities as President,” Trump’s attorneys say in their filing. “In doing so, the prosecution does not, and cannot, argue that President Trump’s efforts to ensure election integrity, and to advocate for the same, were outside the scope of his duties.”
Trump’s lawyers also argued that Trump has immunity based on his acquittal in the Senate after his second impeachment related to January 6.
“The Impeachment Clauses provide that the President may be charged by indictment only in cases where the President has been impeached and convicted by trial in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote according to ABC News. “Here, President Trump was acquitted by the Senate for the same course of conduct… The Special Counsel cannot second-guess the judgment of the duly elected United States Senate.”
Excerpt from ABC News:
Former President Donald Trump made his first motion to dismiss his federal election interference case Thursday, citing what his lawyers claim is his “absolute immunity” from prosecution for actions taken while serving in the nation’s highest office.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and denounced the charges as “a persecution of a political opponent.”
While Smith’s indictment specifically alleged Trump clearly acted outside the scope of his office while engaging in an unlawful conspiracy to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, Trump’s attorneys on Thursday contended that Smith “falsely claims President Trump’s motives were impure” and that he “knew” reports of fraud in the election were untrue.
“…[As] the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and hundreds of years of history and tradition all make clear, the President’s motivations are not for the prosecution or this Court to decide,” they argue. “Rather, where, as here, the President’s actions are within the ambit of his office, he is absolutely immune from prosecution.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers are seeking to delay Jack Smith’s May classified documents trial until after the 2024 election.
Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday evening filed a motion seeking to delay Jack Smith’s May classified documents trial until after the 2024 election.
Trump attorneys Chris Kise and Todd Blanche accused Jack Smith’s prosecutors of using dilatory tactics to slow-roll the discovery process and taking too long to turn over evidence. Blanche and Kise said the May trial date makes the schedule “unworkable,” according to the motion reviewed by The Gateway Pundit.
“On July 18, 2023, the Special Counsel’s Office represented to the Court that ‘all’ discovery would be available on ‘day one.’” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
Blanche and Kise also said Jack Smith’s Florida classified docs trial set for May 20 and his separate March 4 DC trial regarding Trump’s so-called effort to stop the transfer of power set for March 4 require “Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once.”
“The March 4, 2023 trial date in the District of Columbia, and the underlying schedule in that case, currently require President Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to CBS News. “And, months after the Office’s representation to the Court, discovery is not complete in this case—including with respect to the classified documents at issue in more than 25% of the [Espionage Act] counts in the Superseding Indictment.”
Trump is facing a total of 40 counts related to the classified documents case in Florida.
via thegatewaypundit